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“Dammit...”
The black haired boy groaned whilst looking outside from inside the school building to see the rain pouring down. He forgot his umbrella back at his house, and the rain isn’t going to calm down anytime soon.
He knows he couldn’t call his parents, since he doesn’t bring his phone to school. And even if he did, they’d both most likely be busy. And at this point, most of the students already gone outside the building.
Though one person did catch on quickly that Kazehaya doesn’t have an umbrella nor a ride home. The blond haired boy yells his name in the direction of Kazehaya,
“Ah.. Shota-kun!”
Kento runs up behind him, flinging his arms around the black haired boy’s shoulder. Kazehaya swears Kento has been watching him the entire time. Kento grins. “You haven’t left yet? What’s the holdup? Waiting for somebody?”
Kento inches his face towards Kazehaya’s closer and closer with each irritating question, while Kazehaya makes his face inch further away. “Gh.. That’s none of your business.” Kazehaya pushes his hand onto Kento’s face to get away from him. Kento lightly giggles in response, clearly not taking it seriously.
Kazehaya puts his hand away once Kento got off of him. Kento gives a cheeky smile, “Or is it.. Because you forgot to bring an umbrella?” Kazehaya stood silent for a moment. But before he could even think of a proper rebuttal, Kento laughs.
“I never knew you were the type to forget to bring an umbrella! If anyone, I thought Sawako would be the one to do that type of thing!” Kento always had a knack for reading people’s minds…
Kazehaya furrows his eyebrows in embarrassment and annoyance. “Sh.. Shut up! Why are you even talking to me?!” Kazehaya raises his voice to combat the teasing.
“Well.. It just so happens I have an umbrella. It’s big enough for roughly two people!” Kazehaya rolls his eyes. “Ugh… Are you gonna ask me to share an umbrella with you?” Kento smiles a bit harder. “Does that mean you’re going to refuse?”
Kazehaya contemplated the option for a while. Kento is annoying at times, but it’s not enough for me to risk getting sick. “I… Fine, just under the agreement that I don’t owe you anything, okay?” Kento smiles with his eyes closed. “Hehe.. Alright, then.”
Kento grabs his umbrella and walks to the door that leads outside and turns his head, with the intention to wait for Kazehaya. Kazehaya fixes his bag and catches up to Kento.
They start walking together under the rain together, which was the last thing Kazehaya thought was going to happen today.
They both trotted in silence, with only the sound of rain pouring down and their shoes hitting against the wet pavement of the sidewalk filling it in.
Kazehaya wishes it would stay silent and peaceful between them until they both got to their houses, until Kento asks Kazehaya an unexpected question.
“Hows it going with Sawako? Any progress?”
Kazehaya’s face was perplexed. “Wh.. What are you talking about?” Kento laughs. “I can tell with the way you look at her that you like her, everybody can!” Even with Kento’s “explanation”, Kazehaya was still in a state of confusion. Was it really that obvious?… Or is Kento just admitted that he was staring at me…?
“So?” Kento’s sudden voice had stopped that train of thought of going any further. “Ah..” Well... if it really was that obvious, I guess there's no point in playing dumb. “I mean.. I’ve been trying to hangout with her recently, but she always said that she was busy. I get the feeling she doesn’t really like me…”
Before Kazehaya can go on, Kento chuckles, and flings his free arm around the black haired boy’s shoulder for reassurance. “Don’t talk down to yourself like that! You’re practically the most popular boy in the school!” Kazehaya blushes, clearly isn’t sure how to feel about Kento’s praise for him. Kento continues,
“Even if she doesn’t like you, theres still plenty of people who’d wanna be yours.” Defeatedly, Kazehaya decides to take the compliments. He sighs and says, “Alright, I get it…” Kento smiles, his arm slides onto Kazehaya’s back and slowly returns to its original position.
Before they could return back to silence, Kazehaya decides to get back at Kento by asking him a question this time.
“Have you done this with somebody before? Like with a girlfriend?”
Kento widens his eyes. “What a sudden question! Is this your way of getting back at me?” Kento somehow always figures out what Kazehaya is doing, no matter how much the he tries to hide it. “Just answer.”
Kento looks away for a bit, then comes up with an answer. “I did it a few times with this one girl, since she was sort of scatterbrained. Really forced me to actually pay attention to the weather! Not saying that as a bad thing.”
Kazehaya comes up with a response. “Did it bother you?” Kento answers, “It was fun, it always made me feel like I was the male lead in a K-drama or something.” Kento chuckles, “Now that I’m thinking about it, she actually reminds me of you.” Kazehaya laughs in disbelief, “Really?”
“Yeah! You both had black hair and were super nice!” Kazehaya laughs, to try and distract himself from the situation.
Kento continues, “You two would be good friends. Though, I’m not sure where she is now…” Kazehaya smirks. “Probably happier now.” Kento does an overexaggerated gasp, “Hey!” Kento playfully pushes his arm against Kazehaya. It seems like both can be a nuisance sometimes.
After a few moments of silence and with the rain still pouring down, Kento asks another question directed towards Kazehaya.
”Do you have any plans when you get home?” Kazehaya looks over to Kento. “Hm? Why?” Kento speaks, softer than usual. “Theres a café near here, I go to it whenever I want to unwind and relax. Wanna come with me?”
Kazehaya thought about it for a bit, “Alright.. Just promise me you’ll pay.” Kento rolls his eyes and smiles. “I know, I know.”
“This way!” Kento suddenly grabs Kazehaya’s hand and starts running, Kazehaya reacts with a sudden yelp.
They both start running, holding hands. Their shoes splashed in puddles of the intertwining roads and running through alleyways. The scene is reminiscent of two children running through the rain, laughing and having fun together.
And for a bit, Kazehaya can’t help but smile and laugh too.
“It’s over there!” They both finally reached the café, but not without being drenched in water. Kento closes the umbrella puts it down next to the door, all while still holding Kazehaya’s hand.
As they both walked inside, a bell rings. “Welcome!” An enthusiastic staff speaks to the two boys as soon as they enter. Kento responds just as enthusiastically, “Helloooo! Table for 2 people, please.” The employee smiles, “No problem.”
The staff walks both of them to their booth. Kento is still holding his hand, but it seems like he doesn’t notice. But Kazehaya eventually does. “Uhh… Kento?” Kento Looks over to Kazehaya. “Hmm?” “You’re still holding my hand.” Kento’s eyes widen, gives an embarrassed smile and looks away. Kento acts surprised. “Oh!” He lets go of Kazehaya’s hand. “Haha… Sorry, I guess I didn’t notice!”
Somehow, Kazehaya gets the gut feeling that Kento is lying. But he assumes he was just seeing things. Once they got to the booth, they both sit down opposite of each other.
Kento thanks the staff, and they go back to the counter. Kazehaya speaks to Kento, “Huh… The atmosphere here is really welcoming. And the staff seems really nice too…” Kento grins ear-to-ear. “I know, right? you’re gonna love this place.” Unknowingly, Kazehaya smiles too. But doesn’t know what he’s smiling at.
The waiter comes up to their table and places down the menu’s. Kazehaya grabs one, while Kento sat in silence with his arms crossed and laid back into the chair. Kazehaya navigates through the menu, while Kento was navigating his face.
Kento remembers, “Don’t order anything too pricy okay? We’re gonna be on a budget if I’m paying…” Kazehaya mumbles, “Yeah, yeah, I know.” Kento smiles.
A few seconds pass, and Kazehaya already made up his mind about his order, but when he looks over to Kento, he notices he hasn’t touched the menu in front of him since the beginning. Kazehaya curiously asks, “You’re not going to order?” Kento chuckles, “I already have the menu memorized. My usual order is just an oolong tea. It’s simple, but it’s surprisingly good.”
Kento leans in a bit closer. “What did you order?” “Oh…” Kazehaya recollects his thoughts, “I just ordered an iced coffee.” Kento smiles softly, “It fits you.” Kazehaya tries to process what Kento just said. “What fits me?”
Kento chuckles, “It’s nothing. Forget I said anything.” Kazehaya just sat there confused.
Kento fixes his sitting position to be more formal and raises his hand to get the waiters attention.
As Kento was talking to the waiter about their take-out order, Kazehaya decides to study Kento’s face for a bit, alongside his voice, and the way that he speaks. Kazehaya wondered what all his fangirls saw in him.
Maybe it’s his looks? “Hey, Shota.”
The way he laughs? “Shota-kun?”
The way his skin feels— “Shota-kun!”
Kento snaps his fingers, which was enough for Kazehaya to stop the questionable train of thought. “Ah..!” Kazehaya spurted out. “You’re zoning out. What’s wrong?”
Kazehaya’s face turns red. “Oh… I was just… Thinking about exams.” Their exams aren’t due until multiple weeks, but it was the best excuse he could come up with at the time. Kento chuckles, clearly not believing it. “Having trouble in a certain subject? Want me to tutor you?”
Kazehaya senses Kento’s sarcasm. “Haha… There’s no need…” Kazehaya hides his face away from embarrassment. A waiter then walks up to their table and places down a plastic bag, with the drinks visible inside. Kazehaya lets out a sigh of relief.
The waiter smiles. “Thank you for ordering!” Kazehaya speaks, “Thank you for the food!” The waiter nods, and walks back to the counter. Kazehaya stutters, “A… Anyway, we should probably go now.” Kazehaya takes the plastic bag with his order into his hands. “My parents hate it when I don’t go home on time.”
Kento grabs his order, and smiles. “Right.” They both stand up from their chairs and walk outside. Theres a shade right above the door, so as long they don’t go too far, they won’t get drenched.
The rain wasn’t as bad as it was when it started, but it could still easily ruin the drinks. Kento grabs and opens the umbrella and lets Kazehaya get under it with him.
They finally reached Kazehaya’s house. Kento’s eyes widen. “I never knew your mom owns a shop! I guess that’s where your strong-will comes from.” Kazehaya smiles and looks down, bashfully. “You always try and find a way to flatter me, don’t you?.. ”
Kento places his arm around Kazehaya’s shoulder once again, but more gently, as to not make him drop the drinks. Kazehaya looks over to Kento’s face. “How could I not!” Kento shoots a cheeky grin at Kazehaya as Kazehaya chuckles at Kento’s response.
Kento removes his arm on Kazehaya, and gives him a small smile. “Make sure to say hi to your mom for me!” Kazehaya smiles right back. “I will.”
“Bye-bye!” Kento smiles ear-to-ear and waves at Kazehaya as he walks to the door. Was he always that adorable?
Kazehaya instinctively waves back, but right as turned his back, he looks over to Kento again. “Oh… Wait, I almost forgot.”
Kento’s eyes widen slightly. Kazehaya walks to Kento and grabs his hand, and brings it closer to his own body. All while maintaining eye contact. At this point, Kazehaya’s face was blushing red, but was still able to muster a sentence. “Thanks… For sharing your umbrella with me. Today was really fun.”
Kento, unexpectedly, started to blush too. Kazehaya continues to stare at Kento, patiently waiting for a response. But all Kento did was blink, confused.
Kazehaya suddenly lets go of Kento's hand, face still red. "Well... Bye!" Kazehaya sprints towards his homes door, and shutting it behind him.
He pushes his back against the metal door, then lets out a sigh of relief. He wasn’t really sure why that came out the way that it did, but he did thank Kento and thats all he wanted to achieve. Right before he could fully relax, he hears Kento's late response.
“I had fun too! Make sure to not bring an umbrella next time it rains!”
Kazehaya wouldn’t ever admit this to anyone, but he ultimately found what Kento said sweet. He smiled to himself.
When he first met him, he would never in a million years would think they would genuinely get along with each other like they did today.
Maybe they could have a chance to actually be friends, or maybe more. But that could never happen, right?
Yeah.